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    Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain
    Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain
    Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain
    Audiobook9 hours

    Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain

    Written by Michael Rosen

    Narrated by Michael Rosen, Samuel West, Peter Kenny and

    ()

    About this audiobook

    This audiobook narrated by acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen breathes new life into the political tales first published in British workers' magazines

    With additional narration by Lisa Coleman, Ric Jerrom, Peter Kenny, Miriam Margolyes, John Telfer, and Samuel West

    In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, unique tales inspired by traditional literary forms appeared frequently in socialist-leaning British periodicals, such as the Clarion, Labour Leader, and Social Democrat. Based on familiar genres—the fairy tale, fable, allegory, parable, and moral tale—and penned by a range of lesser-known and celebrated authors, including Schalom Asch, Charles Allen Clarke, Frederick James Gould, and William Morris, these stories were meant to entertain readers of all ages—and some challenged the conventional values promoted in children's literature for the middle class. In Workers' Tales, acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen brings together more than forty of the best and most enduring examples of these stories in one beautiful volume.

    Throughout, the tales in this collection exemplify themes and ideas related to work and the class system, sometimes in wish-fulfilling ways. In "Tom Hickathrift," a little, poor person gets the better of a gigantic, wealthy one. In "The Man Without a Heart," a man learns about the value of basic labor after testing out more privileged lives. And in "The Political Economist and the Flowers," two contrasting gardeners highlight the cold heart of Darwinian competition. Rosen's informative introduction describes how such tales advocated for contemporary progressive causes and countered the dominant celebration of Britain's imperial values.

    Provocative and enlightening, Workers' Tales presents voices of resistance that are more relevant than ever before.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton University Press
    Release dateOct 23, 2018
    ISBN9780691193007
    Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain
    Author

    Michael Rosen

    Michael Rosen is one of the best-loved figures in the children's book world, renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and educational campaigner. His bestselling books include We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen's Sad Book and Quick Let's Get Out of Here. His books for adults include Good Ideas, how to be your child's and your own best teacher and his memoir, So They Call You Pisher!. He was Children's Laureate from 2007-2009, and received the Eleanor Farjeon Award for services to children's literature in 1997. He is Professor of Children's Literature at Goldsmiths University of London. His book to help children (or anyone) write poems is What is Poetry?

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